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MANILA, Philippines — Minor “hiccups” in the conduct of a special election for a representative of Cavite province’s seventh district on Saturday were limited to defective vote counting machines (VCM), according to the Commission of the Elections (Comelec).
Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the election process ran smoothly, despite some system glitches that were immediately addressed.
“When a VCM malfunctioned, a contingency arrived in less than five minutes. So the feeding of ballots was not interrupted,” he said.
However, the citizen’s arm National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), said in its preliminary observation that while the special election in Cavite was “smooth and peaceful,’’ the majority of the voters did not observe proper COVID-19 protocols.
It also reported other voting interruptions such as ballot paper jams, a low turnout of voters, and lack of accessible polling stations for priority groups, such as seniors and persons with disabilities.
The Comelec held a special election in Cavite after its representative Jesus Crispin Remulla vacated the post to serve as justice secretary.